Lots of people near and dear to us have been asking to see pictures our progress with this sweet little home. I felt it long past time to do a little documentation of the huge changes we've had over the 18 months.
So where do we begin?
We left Brooklyn and moved into Walter's little house in January 2006. He bought it in 1989 while attending grad. school, lived in it with his first wife, and rented it out after their divorce.
Now it's our "Victorian Eclectic" one story house, 871 E. Second Avenue.
Here's some background that I got from the local Heritage Society...
The house was built in 1899 by Mrs. Rachel McMasters, a real estate developer who built several houses in the Avenues. Upon it's completion she sold it to Willard F. Smith.
The 1899 directory lists him as a partner in the Smith & Free Company "Mines and Mining".
In 1900 he sold the house to Richard W. Sampson who was then bookkeeper. Later, according to the Salt Lake City directories, he bacome involved in 'mining.' He lived in the house until 1909, but owned it until 1924 when he sold it to John W. Alford.
According to his obituary, he was a "well known Salt Lake City clothing salesman." He was born July 2, 1873, in Salt Lake City, son John and Margaret Anderson Alford. He graduated fro, the University of Utah in 1892 and spent the rest of his life in the clothing business. He began at ZCMI, went to work for J.P. Gardner, and then with his brother R.G. Alford, operated Alford Brothers. Following hs death in 1943 ownership passed to his wife, Ruby Venice Pike Alford. In 1945 she sold the house to Noel E. Pool.
When Walter moved in he lived in the 1334 square feet of the main level. The attic had been blocked from the inside and converted to a 560 sq. ft. 1 bedroom apartment (during the depression?) with a staircase out on the westside of the house and a back enterance with a balcony patio. The rentsl unit was great for him to help make the mortgage. He allows had renters upstairs.
There were also stairs from the kitchen that led down to a basement mechanical room with old brick walls (alledgedly 400 sq.ft. though I can't imagine it) and it was surrounded by a dirt shelf all the way round, out to the sandstone foundation. The shelf had anywhere from 18" to 3 feet of air between it and the floor joists above.
So in a 1997 appraisal it was listed as a brick house (3 bedrooms, 2 full baths and a fire place) with a total 2294 sq. ft. "Avenues home in great location, upstairs apt. or could convert to single fam two story. Good condition."
Unfortunately for us, those three bedrooms where not all excessible from the first floor. And we were the kind of family that needed a guest room, an office and a larger kitchen (well, at least more counter space). When we moved in we were renting the upstairs to Walter's sister as an office space and were grateful for the additional income that rent brought in. So up wasn't the immediate answer for more space.
We have about a 10th of an acre ( 33 x 155 ft.) In the back there's an old wood garage built in the 30ies that has a major tilt to it. And someone had added on a washroom and a family room to the back of the house at some point. So we felt an add-on in the back would eat up any backyard that remained. We thought to the future and the definite need for a backyard for our daughter and our dog.
So, we didn't want to go up, yet... and we didn't want to go out back... and the front of the house had to remain the same, as we lived in a historical neighborhood... Maybe we could go down?
I had had basement bedrooms since I was 12 growing up. It was nice and dark and cozy in the basement. I've always been a sound sleeper. It was warm in the Winter and cool in the Summer. My parents had stuck all the girls down in the basement by our teens. It gave them a little space from us. My sisters felt free to run around in their undies down there, shave their legs wherever. It was our space.
I liked that idea. Future noisy teenagers tucked away, downstairs and when we finally needed our privacy we could reconnect the attic space to the house for an amazing master suite. The main level would become our living space.
Living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, wash/mudroom, office and a guestroom with it's own full bathroom. Sounds like a plan.
